Emmanuel Mudiay highlighted his 28-point performance with a pair of late free throws as the NBA-worst New York Knicks erased an 11-point deficit late in the fourth quarter for a 124-123 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday afternoon.

Damyean Dotson scored 25 points and Kevin Knox chipped in 19 for the Knicks, who benefited from a season-high 41-point first quarter to post their first win since a 108-103 victory against Orlando on Feb. 26.

New York's DeAndre Jordan collected 15 points and 17 rebounds to record his fifth double-double in his past six games.

LeBron James scored 33 points after sitting out Friday's 111-97 setback versus Detroit for what the team called "load management" connected to the groin injury that sidelined him for 17 games earlier this season. The four-time NBA Most Valuable Player shot 11-for-26 from the field and overcame an 0-for-6 performance from the 3-point line by making 11-of-13 attempts from the free-throw line during his 35 minutes of play.

Kyle Kuzma had 18 points and Reggie Bullock added 14 for the Lakers, who have lost eight of nine and were swept in the season series by New York.

James' jumper gave Los Angeles a 122-111 lead with 3:45 to play before New York answered with a flourish, with Dotson's layup bringing New York within one with 37.1 seconds to play. Mudiay then made a pair of free throws with 22.3 seconds left before Mario Hezonja blocked James' jumper in the waning seconds to preserve the victory.

The Lakers appeared to pull away from the Knicks midway into the fourth quarter, as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope drilled a 3-pointer and Alex Caruso added a steal and a layup in transition to build a 112-105 lead. Caldwell-Pope drained another 3-pointer with under five minutes to play before James sank the jumper to push the advantage to 11.

Los Angeles erased an 11-point first-quarter deficit by going on a 23-10 run to begin the second, with James exploiting the interior of the defense for short jumpers and a dunk in addition to five free throws during the stretch. Bullock's 3-pointer and 16-foot jumper capped the Lakers' 36-point quarter and gave the club a 66-63 advantage at intermission.